Cool Is A Cage
These words come from Joan Westenberg’s newsletter. Contrary my natural inclination, I cannot but resonate with her point. It is this involuntary feeling – to preserve decorum is indirectly to “kiss the ring.” At the very least, to begin, – a push away from the starting block. You and I must find our voices. While almost everyone I know, will remain silent. Silent. Is it in the interest of survival to remain ineffective, “jacked into” some type of entertainment, one of the officially sanctioned soporifics? A grave is a very silent place.
We curate ourselves into something safe. We smooth out our rough edges. We keep things palatable, we stay detached, we’re less invested, we’re dedicated to avoiding embarrassment at all costs…
Cool is a cage. Cool is a waiting room where nothing ever happens. Cool is an excuse to sit on your hands while the world burns. Cool tells you not to raise your voice when something feels wrong. Cool makes you hesitate before speaking out, before creating, before showing up. Cool is watching the world unravel and deciding the safest response is to smirk and crack a joke and look away. Cool whispers, What if they laugh at you? What if they think you’re overdramatic? What if they call you cringe?…
We don’t need more detached, ironic spectators. We need people who actually give a shit. People who are willing to stand up, speak out, get knocked down, and come back swinging. People who don’t let the near-universal fear of looking foolish stop them from doing something that matters.
If you believe healthcare is a human right, say it. If you think billionaires (aka wealth extremists) shouldn’t exist, say it. If you want to burn this exploitative system to the ground and build something better, say it—scream it, organize for it, fight for it.
The powerful benefit from your aversion to the cringe. They feed on your silence. Every time you bite your tongue, every time you shrink back, every time you let the fear of embarrassment hold you hostage—they win…
History isn’t made by the people who sit back and mock. It’s made by the folks who show up, give a shit, and are directionally okay with looking ridiculous in the process. The folks who understand that trying is the only way we’ve ever changed a good Goddamn thing.
That’s what I want to be in 2025.
I want to be earnest.
I want to be loud.
I want to be cringe.
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